The United Reformed Church Archive 1936-2010 Catalogued by Jennifer Delves, Archivist and Records Manager, 2010-2011 1 The United Reformed Church Contents Page Introduction 2 Summary list 7 Detailed list 11 Appendix 1: General Assembly dates and locations 355 Appendix 2: Uniting Assemblies 356 Appendix 3: General Secretaries and Deputy General Secretaries 356 Appendix 4: General Assembly Moderators 357 2 The United Reformed Church (URC), 1936-2010 URC Introduction Introduction to the URC The United Reformed Church was created in 1972 by the uniting of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. The Reformed Association of Churches of Christ joined in 1981 and the Scottish Congregational Church in 2000. The URC is a Trinitarian church based in the United Kingdom. Its theological roots are Calvinist and its historical and organisational roots are in the Presbyterian, Congregational and Churches of Christ traditions. The Bible is taken to be its supreme authority together with certain historic statements of the United Reformed Church. The United Reformed Church takes the name ‘Reformed’ in recognition of its roots in the Genevan Reformation of the 16th Century. It has a commitment to continual reformation in order to be a church for today as summed up in the traditional motto, "Reformans Semper Reformandans.” The URC is part of the worldwide family of reformed churches, "The World Communion of Reformed Churches," which has a membership of over 80 million. The URC believes that all God’s people should be one and therefore seeks to work closely with Christians of all traditions and has united with a number of other churches. In 2010 the United Reformed Church had approximately sixty-eight thousand members, nearly 700 ministers and 1500 congregations. As with all organisations, the structure of the URC and the titles, functions, format, and even existence of its governing bodies, committees and sub-committees have changed over time and will continue to do so. This is reflected throughout the catalogue. Key dates: 1972: United Reformed Church formed by a union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the majority of churches in the Congregational Church in England and Wales 1981: The Reformed Association of Churches of Christ unites with the URC 2000: The URC and the Scottish Congregational Church (previously the Congregational Union of Scotland) unite For further information see the URC’s website and the ‘related materials’ section below. Description This collection consists of the records of the national United Reformed Church from its foundation in 1972 (although it contains some records created prior to this date). Records of the URC’s regional administrative divisions e.g. synods and local churches including baptismal, confirmation and marriage records are found elsewhere (see ‘related materials’ below). 3 Acquisition details The initial deposit of the URC archive was made to the Congregational Library in 2011 by the URC’s archivist and records manager, Jennifer Delves. All records over 15 years old shall be transferred to the Congregational Library at five year intervals unless they continue to be required for operational purposes by the URC. Where records continue to be held for work purposes by the URC researchers may notice gaps in the content of the archive. Please contact the URC’s records manager (contact details can be found on the URC website) about the possibility of accessing these records. Arrangement This collection has been arranged in such a way so as to best reflect the activities of the URC. The papers are arranged by function rather than organisational structure as function is the more stable of the two. The collection has thus been divided into six sections as follows: A. Governance B. Ministers and Ministry C. Activities D. Union E. Facilitative functions and resources F. Publications Abbreviations The following is a list of abbreviations used in the catalogue and in the documents themselves. However, where possible the full term is used in the catalogue with the exception of the ‘United Reformed Church’ (‘URC’), ‘Fellowship of United Reformed Youth’ (‘FURY’) and ‘General Assembly of the URC’ (‘GA’ or ‘Assembly’). Abbreviation Full term ACC Asian Christian Church ACTS Action of Churches Together in Scotland AGOGAL Advisory Group on Grants and Loans BCC British Council of Churches c.year Within 5 years either side of this year CCBI Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland CCOM Churches' Commission on Mission CCOS Churches Commission on Overseas Students CEC Conference of European Churches CETYCW Council for Education and Training in Youth and Community Work CIM Churches Information for Mission CMC Churches Main Committee CMC (CRCW) Central Management Committee (CRCW) 4 CME Continuing Ministerial Education Subcommittee CRCW Church Related Community Worker/ Work CRE Commission for Racial Equality CTE Churches Together in England CWM Council for World Mission CWMC Community of Women and Men in the Church DES Department of Education and Science DfEE Department For Education and Employment DfES Department for Education and Skills DSW Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness DYS District Youth Secretary/ Secretaries EECCS European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society EECOD European Ecumenical Organisation for Development EKP Evangelical Kirche der Pfalz EPURC Employment practise in the URC FoF Friends of FURY FURY Fellowship of United Reformed Youth GA/ Assembly General Assembly of the URC GEAR Group for Evangelism and Renewal IDWAL Inter-diocesan West African Links IESC International Exchange subcommittee GEAR Group for Evangelism and Renewal JPIC Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation LEAD Love Equality And Dignity LEP Local Ecumenical Partnership LMS London Missionary Society MES Ministry in Ecumenical Situations MEW Mission and Ecumenical Work at Home MOM Maintenance of the Ministry NCVYS National Council for Voluntary Youth Services n.d. No date given NFP New FURY Project NSBP Not strangers but Pilgrims NYCTO National Youth and Children’s Training Officer OESC Overseas Exchange subcommittee PCK The Presbyterian Church of Korea POM Patterns of Ministry PROK The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea PYS Provincial Youth Secretary/ Secretaries RPAG Resource Planning Advisory Group SCC Scottish Congregational Church SCIFU Scottish Church Initiative for Union SCWE Scottish Churches World Exchange SDRG Sexuality Debate Response Group 5 SOAS School of African and Oriental Studies SPIN Sharing People in Network TLS Training for Learning and Serving URC United Reformed Church UWI Union of Welsh Independents URC United Reformed Church URCGSF URC Guides and Scouts Fellowship WARC World Alliance of Reformed Churches WCC World Council of Churches WCM World Church & Mission WDYT What Do You Think WISCC Whitefield International Student Chaplaincy Centre Y&CW Youth and Children’s Work YLTO Youth Leadership Training Officers Appraisal Throughout this catalogue coherent files have been treated as such and original file titles have been indicated in single inverted commas. All other titles have been assigned by the archivist. Access status Certain restrictions apply and are noted at item level. Access conditions The majority of papers in this collection are available for study subject to the rules and conditions of the Congregational Library. Material under fifteen years old may remain closed until it reaches this age. Due to their potentially sensitive nature ministers’ files will remain closed for thirty years after the death of the minister and files relating to the discipline of ministers will remain closed for fifty years after the death of the relevant minister. Reproduction conditions Copies of records may be supplied to researchers without further reference to the URC for use in private study, subject to current copyright legislation and provided that the copying process will not damage the document. Copyright Copyright of most of the material in this collection is held by the United Reformed Church. The Library will, if appropriate, give consent on behalf of the URC for the publication of the whole or part of any copyright work among the records that is in the copyright of the URC. The Library will advise users that they may, to the extent permitted by copyright law, use or quote from any work among the records that is in copyright which is the property of a third party. 6 Language English Small amount of French, German and Italian Related material Other records of the URC Records of the URC synods (regional bodies) are held by those bodies (contact details can be found on the URC website). Records of local churches including baptismal, confirmation and marriage records are held either by those churches or will have been deposited in the church’s local record office. Other archive material . The archives of the Congregational Union of England and Wales (later the Congregational Church in England and Wales) are also held at Dr Williams’s Library. The archive of the Presbyterian Church in England is held at Westminster College, Cambridge (Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0AA). The records of the Churches of Christ (also known as the Disciples of Christ) are also at Westminster College, Cambridge (address above). The archive of the Council for World Mission (CWM), formerly the London Missionary Society is held by the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) as are the records of Presbyterian and Churches or Christ missionary activity (The Library, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG). The archive of St Andrew’s Hall, Selly Oak College is held by Birmingham University (Special Collections, Cadbury Research Library, Muirhead Tower, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT) Further information The United Reformed Church History Society (Westminster College, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0AA) can advise on published sources of information about the history of the URC. Extent 2017 files Box numbers URC 1-261 URC A-Q Cataloguing details Catalogued by Jennifer Delves, Archivist and Records Manager, 2010-2011. 7 Summary list The arrangement by section is as follows: Page A.